As Sri Lankan Army closes in on the only remaining bastion of LTTE tigers, defence sources have released pictures of what is now being touted as Prabhakaran's hideout. Pictures suggest that the LTTE chief, Veluppillai Prabhakaran was living in an expensively built underground bunker in the Dharmapuram area, a border town between Killinochchi and Mullaittivu.

The bunker had been built inside a civilian settlement, among what appears to be thatched houses of poor villagers. The entrance at the surface was disguised as one such hut. But an armour plated container with air conditioning facility placed near the surface entrance of the bunker led the Army to storm what is said to have been the camouflaged hideout of the LTTE chief.

Earlier, newspapers had reported that Prabhakaran lives in a sprawling air-conditioned bunker complex, located over 30 feet below the ground, and comes up to the surface only in the night to avoid detection.

As Sri Lankan troops advance towards the last Tiger bastion of Mullaittivu, Army Chief Sarath Fonseka said he was not sure whether Velupillai Prabhakaran was in the island nation but felt that it was not possible for the LTTE supremo to find a shelter in India.

"Well, I am not sure whether he is in Sri Lanka. There are ways to escape. But it is not possible for Prabhakaran to have gone to India. He will not be permitted there," Fonseka told a group of Journalists in Colombo on Saturday (January 17). 

Prabhakaran is wanted by New Delhi in connection with the 1991 murder of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and also listed by the European Union and United States as a terrorist organisation.

(With inputs from agencies)

Courtesy: timesnow.tv